Certain Songs #1787: Ramones – “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”

One of the things I really like about Leave Home (and Rocket to Russia, for that matter) is the big sound that Tommy got for the band. Johnnys guitar sounds utterly massive, like — for lack of a better term — a wall of sound.

Combining Johnnys ever-present roar with Dee Dee and Tommy both mastering their instruments, and you can hear them level up, especially on a song like “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment”, in which Joey crams a whole bunch of words into an ever-dwindling space.

I was feeling sick, losing my mind Heard about these treatments by a good friend of mine He was always happy, smile on his face He said he had a great time at the place

And like “Glad to See You Go“, “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” balanced those verbose verses with a compact, memorable and melodic chorus.

Let’s face it, once you hear that chorus — Joey gleefully asking to get his brain zapped — with what sounds like electrical explosions in the background for good measure, you aren’t likely to forget it.

Why is this Ramones song different from all other Ramones songs? It’s the first of their songs about mental health, a genre that pretty much lasted through their entire career — by the end of the 80s they were titling albums things like Halfway to Sanity and Brain Drain. And while by today’s standards, some of these songs would probably considered wildly inappropriate, they’re also often quite funny.